


2 AM.

by lostmemoria



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Kid Fic, Next Door Neighbors, single dad!Jordan, slight mention of major character death (past), university student!Lydia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-06
Updated: 2015-05-06
Packaged: 2018-03-29 06:19:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3885604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostmemoria/pseuds/lostmemoria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just as she raised her hand again to pound on the door once more, it opened and before Lydia could even open her mouth to say anything, she found herself staring at a young man holding a tiny bundle of joy in his arms while only wearing Star Wars boxers.</p><p>And she thought Stiles was the only one who owned Star Wars boxers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	2 AM.

**Author's Note:**

> because i haven't posted up a fic in a while and i just love the idea of single dad!Jordan with tiny newborn????? (and ofc we need some marrish cuteness with all the hate that's been going on) enjoy my lovelies!!

It was the fourth day in a row that Lydia was hearing that screaming baby from next door. She had finals in Chemistry, Biology, and Physics next week and even though she was sure she was going to ace all of them anyways, it didn’t hurt to study just a little extra.

But that seemed close to impossible since that baby had been crying for the past two hours. There were a few moments where she had complete silence, and where she actually thought _alright, that baby’s lungs are probably beat. he or she is going to sleep now._ But every single time she was proven wrong.

She couldn’t help but wonder who the hell the mother was, because for all she knew, she’s never seen her. They had only moved in last week and she had been too busy helping undergraduate students with their research papers to pay any attention to who her new neighbors were.

It was amazing that she hadn’t even confronted them yet, because how are you supposed to tell a woman to make her baby shut up so she can actually concentrate on her school work and study? It wasn’t like Lydia blamed the baby, since crying was what all babies _did_ , but she did blame bad parenting.

With a disgruntled sigh, she turned to the next page of her chemistry textbook and just as she did, the horrible screaming and crying came to a halt. Thinking it was a false alarm, Lydia froze in the middle of turning the page, listening discreetly, expecting to hear the crying start up once more.

But surprisingly, it didn’t.

A sigh of relief passed through Lydia because _thank god_ , at least she could finally study in peace tonight.

 

**

 

At around two in the morning, Lydia finally plopped down on her bed, curling up in her covers as she pushed aside all her books and notes. She had a job interview at eight in the morning tomorrow as a research assistant at a laboratory that paid much better than her tutoring job. And Lydia thought; why not take that glorious opportunity? She was getting annoyed at being a tutor anyways, since most of the students she worked with either had no interest in improving their grades or they always wanted to ask her out.

She sighed and closed her eyes. It didn’t take long for sleep to start to overwhelm her body quickly, and she didn’t dare fight it.

But before she could even drift off into a peaceful slumber, a piercing cry echoed through the shared wall followed by wailing. Lydia’s eyes shot open as the crying started all over again and she groaned. “ _You got to be kidding me._ ”

She shuffled out of bed, deciding that enough was enough and she was definitely not going to take this anymore. She slipped into her pink fuzzy slippers and silk robe and stomped out of her apartment, walking over next door. The redhead didn’t bother ringing the doorbell, using her fist instead as she pounded against it. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to say besides that she was going to give the mother a piece of her mind, not only because she has gone four days straight without a decent amount of sleep but also because she felt bad for the baby who was crying its lungs out, clearly in distress.

Just as she raised her hand again to pound on the door once more, it opened and before Lydia could even open her mouth to say anything, she found herself staring at a young man holding a tiny bundle of joy in his arms while only wearing Star Wars boxers.

And she thought Stiles was the only one who owned Star Wars boxers.

“Shhh, it’s okay baby girl,” the man cooed at the bright green eyed baby in his arms, not noticing her just yet.

And Lydia took that moment to just take in his appearance. His well toned chest, his messy thick dark hair, his pretty green eyes that the little baby girl shared with him. He was handsome and looked way too young to her to be a father and she couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty since she was so sure _he_ would actually be a _she_ , but she didn’t feel too bad since a majority of single parent family households were in fact single mothers anyways.

When the guy finally noticed her, his green eyes went wide with guilt as he quickly apologized, “I’m sorry. Was she keeping you up? I don’t know why she’s crying, I’m kinda new to this…” He blushed at her sheepishly as he rocked the baby in his arms, and Lydia couldn’t help but feel in awe at the sight.

“It’s...okay,” Lydia found herself saying slowly, and then because she pitied him, “Is she hungry? Did you feed her?”  
  
He nodded. “I fed her baby formula a few hours ago.”

“A few hours ago?” Lydia’s eyes slightly widened. “You do know that newborn babies need to be fed or nursed 8 to 12 times a day right?”

It was his turn for his eyes to widen. “I...I didn’t know that…” He looked embarrassed and ashamed of himself, that he wasn’t even aware of what his own child needed.

“It’s okay,” Lydia said, not wanting him to feel like that. She could only wonder how hard it was for him, being a single father, and being so young. He looked in his mid twenties, maybe a little younger. “How about you warm up some milk for her and I’ll try to calm her down?”

He looked hesitant in her suggestion as she extended her arms out, since after all she was just his stranger neighbor living next door and it didn’t seem like such a good idea to just hand over a newborn baby. Lydia gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m not going to run away with her. Besides, I want her to stop crying just as much as you do so we can both get some sleep then.”

That seemed to have convinced him because he nodded and carefully handed the baby girl over to her. When the tiny bundle of joy shifted in her arms, looking up at her with big eyes, cheeks stained with dry tears, Lydia couldn’t help but smile brightly. She had already stopped crying as when she came into Lydia’s arms and as she stepped inside his apartment, she gently cooed at her.

“Look at you,” she whispered at her, “so tiny and so cute.”

As if understanding her, the little angel started making happy baby noises at her, blubbering as tiny bits of drool dribbled from the corner of her mouth while she raised her tiny hand towards Lydia. Her hand was so tiny that it barely wrapped around Lydia’s finger, making an “awww” slip from Lydia’s mouth almost absentmindedly. It also made it irresistible for Lydia to not press a kiss against the baby's cheek. And as she did, she realized the real reason for the infant's discomfort.

"I think I know why she's been crying so much," She said as the guy reappeared next to her, holding a warm bottle of milk that he was testing on his palm to make sure it was the right temperature.

"Oh. Why?"

"You put her diaper on wrong." Lydia showed him where the diaper was bunched up slightly near the baby's legs.

Another embarrassed blush colored his cheeks, his gaze lowering to the ground sheepishly. "I...I didn't.."

"You didn't know?" Lydia finished for him, flashing him a small smile. "It's alright. Do you have a changing table?"

He nodded, pointing towards the corner of the room. Lydia told him that she'll show him how to put the diaper properly on and he asked her—in admiration—how she knew how to do it.

"My big sister had twins a few months ago," Lydia said fondly, laying the baby girl down and working at removing the diaper. "So I have some experience up my sleeve."

He watched her intrigued as she showed him how to put the diaper on the right way, telling him to make sure that the part of the diaper between the baby’s legs was spread as wide as seems comfortable, otherwise chafing could occur.

“My wife usually was the one to change the diapers,” he said with a sigh as Lydia fastened the diaper at both sides.

She caught how he said _usually_ and asked bluntly, “You two divorced?”

“Uh, no. Not yet, I mean. But soon, probably,” he said awkwardly. “She...left me for someone else.”

“I’m sorry I asked,” she said, genuinely apologetic as she handed him back his daughter who was now bubbly and comfortable in her properly worn diaper.

“Don’t be,” he said, giving her a reassuring smile as he held the newborn against his chest where she nuzzled against him as he placed the bottle against her mouth. “Thanks for helping, by the way. I really appreciate it, like I have no idea what I would have done if you weren’t here.” He was blushing again and Lydia couldn’t help but feel her own cheeks getting a little hot too.

“It’s fine, really,” she told him.

He smiled at her and then said with painstakingly good mannerisms, “Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Jordan Parrish.” He offered his free hand for her to shake.

“Lydia Martin. Nice to meet you,” she said, returning the smile as she shook his hand, and then glancing towards the baby girl, her smile grew a little wider. “And what’s your name, princess?”

Jordan grinned. “Allison,” he said proudly, as he leaned down and pressed the softest kiss against her head. “But I call her Ally.”

At the sound of the name, Lydia’s smile faded. The bad memories came rushing back to her at just the sound of the name, and it shattered her so much on how even just hearing her best friend’s name made her want to break down and cry.

Jordan seemed to notice that. “I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?” He had a worried expression on his face as his eyes scanned over her.

“No, n-no,” Lydia replied, shaking her head. “It’s just...Allison was my best friend’s name.” She cringed when she used the past tense, because she still wasn’t used to using it.

“Oh...Is she okay?” He asked, noticing too, concern still in his eyes.

“Yeah—I mean, n-no, she’s…” Lydia paused, taking a moment to compose herself before she continued, “she died in car accident a few months ago. A drunk driver hit her.”

The words hung heavy in the air between her and she didn’t even know why she was telling Jordan this anyways. She barely knew him. But she figured that if the university counselors didn’t get her to open up, she would never open up to anyone else. But maybe it was the sheer fact that since he was a stranger, it was easier to open up like this.

“Oh god…,” he breathed, shifting Ally in his arms so that her tiny face was snuggled against his shoulder as he rubbed her back softly. “I’m so sorry...I didn’t know...I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

Lydia just shook her head. “No, it’s okay. You didn’t bring up bad memories because it’s not like it ever leaves my mind in the first place anyways. It just makes me think that maybe I could have done something to stop it from happening. It makes me think that part of it is my fault.”

“Hey, no...Don’t say that,” Jordan said and she felt him put a gentle hand on her shoulder, making her look up at him and his concern filled eyes. “I know you feel like you could have done something, that you could have stopped it. And because you didn’t, it’s your fault. It isn’t. It’s not your fault, it’s not your friend’s fault. So, please don’t blame yourself. I’m sure your friend is watching over you right now and the last thing she would want is for you to feel guilty for what happened to her.”

It was amazing how much his words brought her to the verge of tears, softened her core, but she didn’t want to cry in front of a stranger so she held it in.

“I...I know how you feel,” he said, hesitant on whether to continue or not. “Sometimes I think I could have done something to make her stay. If not for me, then maybe for Ally. But it made me realize that no matter what I could have done, I couldn’t have stopped her. I couldn’t have done anything about it, and even if I did, she wouldn’t have been happy with me. And I would never want that.”

Lydia didn’t know what to say to that, but it made her heart break for him. Although she barely knew him, she couldn’t understand how any girl could possibly leave him. He seemed sweet and down to earth and even though his wife had left him, he didn’t harbor any bitter feelings about it.

“Thank you,” she said softly, wiping a single tear away. “I really needed that.”

Jordan smiled. “Of course, what are neighbors for?” He glanced back down towards Ally and his smile grew wider in triumph. “Hey, she’s finally asleep.”

That made Lydia smile as well. “That’s good. Now we can both get some sleep,” she whispered, getting a small chuckle in response from him. She checked the time on her phone. It was nearly almost three in the morning, meaning she only had five hours before her interview. She sighed, “I should get going now.”

Jordan nodded and walked her to the door. But before Lydia could even take a step back towards her apartment, he stopped her by gently calling her name.

Lydia turned towards him. “Yeah?”  
  
He looked bashful standing there in the open doorway in just his Star Wars boxers as he asked her, “do babies always sleep so much?”

She caught the slightly distressed tone in his voice probably wondering whether that was a normal thing or if there was something wrong with his daughter. Lydia smiled and nodded. “They usually sleep six to eight hours by 3 months of age. But you should still try feeding her every few hours. At night, let her sleep as much as she wants.” After saying all that, Lydia couldn’t remember when exactly she became a baby expert. Maybe it was when she had to research up about newborns because her sister was a mess a few weeks before she was due. She continued, “If you need help with anything else, I’m next door. Literally.”  
  
She grinned at him and he smiled back. “I don’t want to bother you.”

“You won’t,” she told him, curling a strand of hair behind her ear as they both said their goodnights. Lydia then shuffled back into her apartment and curled up in her bed again, drifting off to sleep quickly with a small smile on her face.

 

**

 

Two days later, there was a knock at her door at two o’clock in the morning. When Lydia opened it, she wasn’t surprised to find Jordan Parrish standing in front of her fully clothed this time, with baby Ally sneezing in his arms while he asked her if she could help show him how to get rid of infant congestion.

Lydia smiled and opened the door a little wider: “I’d be happy to help.”

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://lydiasdeputy.tumblr.com)


End file.
